Praise for John's seminal radio series' and books, Scotland's Music

Below are reviews of the two editions of Scotland's Music and of the two radio series for BBC Radio Scotland.

The producer for the first series in 1992 was Martin Dalby and for the second series in 2007 was David MacGuinness. The publisher of both editions of the book was Mainstream Publishing, with support from the Scottish Arts Council.

The 1992 edition won Purser the McVitie's Prize for the Scottish Writer of the Year.

Reviews of Scotland’s Music (Radio Programmes 1991-2)

“ . . a huge step forward in this regard has been John Purser’s marathon ground-breaking series on BBC Radio Scotland – Scotland’s Music. . . it has generated an irresistible appeal for the scholar and amateur alike. Its listening figures have been surprisingly high, proving that there is indeed a craving for information and knowledge on this subject. It has been a huge undertaking . . the educational significance of the programme is enormous.” (James MacMillan, The Scotsman Weekend 21.3.1992, p6)

“I have been utterly moved and fascinated by the programmes so far, by the force with which this analysis of a people’s music brings history to life.” (Joyce MacMillan, Glasgow Herald 19.10.1991)

“The wealth of music which has been rediscovered and recreated is quite extraordinary . . . this is probably the most ambitious and valuable project on which the station has embarked. It is splendid that it is working out so enthrallingly.” (Allan Massie, the Sunday Times, Scotland, 10.11.1991)

“Fanfares on trumpets, horns, or any of the amazing early instruments unearthed by writer and presenter John Purser - are in order for this marvellous series.” (Lesley Duncan, Glasgow Herald 23.11.1991)

“Returning like a salmon to the right river, I come back to Scotland’s Music . . This wonderful series is indeed the repossession of a country lost, and the experience of listening to it is an exploration . . Listening to the series is like having restored the use of a limb you didn’t think you had.” (Joy Hendry, The Scotsman Weekend 30.11.2001)

“Purser integrates beautifully the social history of the period being discussed: descriptions of the sailors on the whaling ships with jew’s harps and fiddles were marvellously evocative. Wonderfully poignant too from this programme were the songs of loss of life at sea and Greenland and the compositions of Highlanders in Australia and North America having been evicted from their homes in their native land.” (Duncan Ferguson, The Scotsman Weekend, 7.3.1992)

“While there remains a creative Radio Scotland . . his broadcast series must remain one of its crowning glories.” (Stewart Conn, Distances, Dalkeith 2001, p58)

Reviews of and comments on Scotland’s Music (Book) 1992

“It is a most splendid account of the history of music in Scotland with wonderful illustrations and musical illustrations very clearly presented and fascinating text . . I shall treasure the book and wanted you to know how very grateful I am to you.” (Sir Yehudi Menuhin to John Purser 8.6.1992)

“ . . . nothing like this cornucopia of discovery, this magisterial survey of a nation’s musical heritage . . has been attempted, let alone achieved with such distinction and authority . . . Purser writes with ebullient belief in his subject. He is assertive and partial, scholarly but accessible, optimistic yet able to measure the ground we must make up . . He pinpoints geography, sketches in the nuances of social order, and never hesitates to measure the temperature and tempo of the times . . Purser’s book . . should be in every library in the land.” (W Gordon Smith, Scotland on Sunday, Spectrum 12.4.1992 p38)

“ . . the sheer scale of scholarship, research and dedication which has gone into its production is quite breathtaking . .” (Cate Devine, The Scottish Field, May 1992 p53)

“ . . magnificent double achievement – the very successful series of programmes on radio Scotland – and now this massive beautiful book . . “ (Hamish Henderson to John Purser, 6.4.1992)

“ Purser’s writing style is florid but entertaining, scholarly but undaunting, committed and infectiously enthusiastic without lapsing into groundless propaganda . . an activism which should take great pride in our Scottish musical heritage and which has received a tremendous shot in the arm from John Purser’s scholarship and this inspiring book.” (James MacMillan, The Scotsman Weekend 21.3.1992, p6)

“ . . magisterial survey . . The book is a milestone . . Its style . . is Purser’s own: a lyrical wordsmith who finds succulence in language, his poetic descriptions stand proud on the page; and he is unafraid to speculate . . Anyone interested in any aspect of the nation’s musical heritage will find inquiry and enlightenment in this lavishly illustrated book.” (Michael Tumelty, The Herald 25.3.1992, p10)

“It is a magnificent work in both its breadth and depth of scholarship: excellently presented, furnished with countless musical examples, written with clarity and passion in equal measure.” Peter Cudmore, Cultural Weapons. In: Chapman No.71 Winter 1992-93, pp89-90.

“He has read John Purser’s Scotland’s Music from cover to cover and is ready to pronounce: ‘I really believe that the only untouched music left in the world is Scotland’s. Everything else has become the language of tourism.’” (Mary Miller interviewing Pierre Boulez, The Scotsman, August 1994)

“It’s such an asset to Scottish culture in general that John Purser brought off his enormous ‘coup’ in Scotland’s Music, the radio series (30 episodes, 90 minutes each!) and, in the book of the same name, a point of reference for both Stewart [Conn] and myself. It’s a musical bible, establishing once and for all how intrinsically musical this Scottish nation is.” (John Sampson, ‘Piping to Stewart’s Tune’, In: Chapman 109, p.68)

Reviews of Scotland’s Music book revised and enlarged edition 2007 “Sumptuous is not a word I use very often, but it’s definitely spot on for this volume.

Scotland’s Music is an exciting journey through that country’s musical tradition. From prehistoric ‘rock gongs’ to Runrig, you’ll find mention of them all in John Purser’s all-encompassing study.

More than anything else, this is a social history, with everyone from kings to poachers playing their part . . . The reader is constantly introduced to new and interesting figures and events from Scottish culture . . . The volume is lavishly illustrated . . . Scores of the tunes and songs - in Gaelic, Scots, Latin and English – pepper the pages, constantly demanding the reader’s attention . . . . Sometimes darkly funny, often sad in style, the author always has a telling story to relate . . .” (Anon, Morning Star, 24.11.07 p.11.)

“John Purser’s classy new update to his epic Scotland’s Music should be the one ‘must have’ on anyone’s musical Christmas list. Beautifully illustrated, brilliantly researched and written, and based on Purser’s stimulating radio series, it tells you everything you need to know and more about our nation’s classical and traditional music history. At £30 from Mainstream Publishing it’s worth every penny.” (Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman, Saturday 1 December 2007, Critique, p.6.)

“ . . . the long-awaited rewrite of his mind-blowingly original 1992 edition of Scotland’s Music – is once again a paragon of probing research, rigorous documentation, and pugnaciously informed opinion. . . . Primarily, though, this book brings us bang up to date. Besides perceptive stylistic comment on Scotland’s most recent established composers, Purser widens the net to reflect the breaking down of musical barriers . . .” (Kenneth Walton, ‘Last word in Scotland’s music’, In: The Scotsman, Friday 7 December 2007, Review, p.8.)

“A unique book that merits recognition as a West Highland Free Press book of the year is ‘Scotland’s Music, A History of the Traditional and Classic Music of Scotland from Early Times to the Present Day’, by Skye-based author John Purser.

The publisher also deserves recognition. Mainstream has produced a beautiful book which illustrates and clearly communicates the richness of the nation’s music — classical, songs, piping, Gaelic song and recent popular music.

The author - a musicologist, poet, broadcaster and crofter — has produced a work of wide historic and cultural span and he infuses the book with insightful views, particularly on under-appreciated music and musicians. Readers will discover a distinctive music, which emerged as Scottish society evolved over the centuries and which contributes to the sense of nationhood.

It will be a long time before we see another scholarly work on this scale emerging from Skye.” (David MacFadyen, West Highland Free Press, 14.12.07, p.18.)

“SCOTLAND’S MUSIC BY JOHN PURSER (Mainstream, £30) ***** ‘A SCOTTISH air is thought of as a wild thing,’ says John Purser, ‘but... our songs and our melodies were highly cultivated.’ They are no less authentic for that, of course, and neither was the country’s most sophisticated ‘classical’ music ever altogether without a distinctively Scottish timbre. A substantially beefed-up version of what already seemed the definitive guide when it first appeared in 1992, this book shows how music played a part in Scottish life from the earliest times. More important, though, it makes a convincing case that Scottish music, both ‘high’ and ‘low’, had a clear identity from an early date. Purser’s scholarship is awesome, but as impressive is an unselfconscious eclecticism that is as much at home with Harry Lauder or the Proclaimers as with the Inchcolm Antiphoner or Niel Gow.” (Michael Kerrigan, The Scotsman Critique 5.1.08 p.16)

“a serious yet forthrightly encyclopaedic and even provocatively splendid book. It is eminently readable and deals doughtily with a serious subject in an engaging way. It is stiffened by an open-handed selection of illustrations jostling music examples, engravings and photographs” (Rob Barnett in British Music Society News 119, September 2008, p.28.)

“Anyone interested in Scotland’s musical heritage will be well advised to invest in a copy of this first rate book. It is, far and away the most comprehensive and lavishly illustrated work on the subject of Scottish music that I have ever encountered.

Mr Purser is one of Scotland’s most distinguished composers, broadcasters and writers and he is nothing if not thorough. His work encompasses the whole of Scotland’s music, from the third millennium BC to the present day. Describing both classical and traditional music, Scotland’s Music pursues the fascinating relationship between the two through the centuries and shows how they illuminate Scottish history and culture.

Mr Purser discusses early Celtic plainchant, ballads in Scots and Gaelic, Renaissance masterpieces by Robert Carver, the outstanding Scottish composer of the 16th century, rare music for lutes and virginals and many under-appreciated and beautiful works by composers such as John Clerk of Penicuik, James Oswald, the Earl of Kellie and John Thomson. He concludes with a survey of the diverse contemporary music of modern Scotland, from operatic and symphonic to Gaelic, folk and pop.”

(Anon, “Scots Books”, In: Cromary, S., (Ed.) Scots Number 43, p.103.)

“In his magnificent book, John Purser broadens our vision by covering every aspect of Scottish music from its beginnings to the present day. The experience, scholarship and sheer musical skill he brings to the task is extraordinary; in an era of specialisation he provides a sweep through Scotland’s music that in both range and depth will probably not be attempted again. That this is the second edition, revised and updated, and expanded by over a hundred pages, is even more remarkable . . . Its 22 chapters are densely annotated, profusely illustrated, and accompanied by extremely comprehensive ‘select’ bibliographies and discographies . . . The scope of this book is breathtaking . . . “ (Ian Olson, “Scotland’s Music . . .”. The Review, Vol LXII, No.218 Winter 2009, Aberdeen, pp.134-136.)

“There is simply nothing like it . . . the modesty implicit in the subtitle need not distract you from what is a serious yet forthrightly encyclopaedic and provocatively splendid book. . . It is finely written and eminently readable . . . This fine book should play its part in leading and fuelling the continuing renaissance in the Scottish musical arts and deserves attention throughout the UK and beyond . . . (Rob Barnett, MusicWeb-International July 2008 www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/July08/Purser­_Scotland.htm)

Reviews of Scotland’s Music radio series 2007

“Scotland’s Music . . is one of the most invigorating projects to come out of our local public service network in years . . . in the 20 weekly programmes aired so far, John Purser, Scotland’s foremost expert on the coun­try’s rich and varied musical heritage, has presented a fascinating journey . . . The astonishing scope of this project shows it was never intended as just an­other chronological plod through mu­sical history, or as a sanitised view of high art versus low, or indeed as simply an update on Purser’s original series. It stands proudly on its own merit, at once imaginative and inspirational.

More importantly, the series gives us a potent reference point by which to un­derstand the roots of the multidimen­sional Scottish musical jigsaw - from jig to jingle, or bothy ballad to drawing-room air - which, to date, has had so many missing pieces. Purser’s mantra is “understanding the music is about un­derstanding who we are”. He certainly makes the picture much, much clearer. (Kenneth Walton, “Purser doles out a golden cache of musical research” The Scotsman Review 1.6.2007 p.11.)

“It’s the tension between the Enlightenment’s idealised, rational conception of music and the hard facts of music-making on the ground. These always had stubbornly local and “irrational” features – nowhere more than in Scotland. Conductor Roger Norrington will be there, alongside Marjorie Rycroft of the University of Glasgow, and that astute historian of Scottish music, John Purser.” Anon, “Arts Review, Music and the Enlightenment: Classical and Vernacular Traditions”, In: The Telegraph, 25.7.2009, p.R4.

Reviews of edition of Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion

“This publication is, therefore, one of the most important we have to date for musicians, scholars and lovers of Scottish music . . . . It is the result of a long labour of love and well worth its very modest price to have such invaluable source material, so beautifully prepared, in everyone’s hands for the first time in over 250 years. Oswald would certainly have applauded.” (Ian Olson, “Music Maestro”, The Scots Magazine, September 2007, p.312.)